BACKGROUND: The protective effects of religion against late life depression may depend on the broader sociocultural environment. This paper examines whether the prevailing religious climate is related to cross-cultural differences of depression in elderly Europeans. METHODS: Two approaches were employed, using data from the EURODEP collaboration. First, associations were studied between church-attendance, religious denomination and depression at the syndrome level for six EURODEP study centres (five countries, N = 8398). Secondly, ecological associations were computed by multi-level analysis between national estimates of religious climate, derived from the European Value Survey and depressive symptoms, for the pooled dataset of 13 EURODEP study centres (11 countries, N = 17,739). RESULTS: In the first study, depression rates were lower among regular church-attenders, most prominently among Roman Catholics. In the second study, fewer depressive symptoms were found among the female elderly in countries, generally Roman Catholic, with high rates of regular church-attendance. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were found among the male elderly in Protestant countries. CONCLUSIONS: Religious practice is associated with less depression in elderly Europeans, both on the individual and the national level. Religious practice, especially when it is embedded within a traditional value-orientation, may facilitate coping with adversity in later life.
BACKGROUND: The protective effects of religion against late life depression may depend on the broader sociocultural environment. This paper examines whether the prevailing religious climate is related to cross-cultural differences of depression in elderly Europeans. METHODS: Two approaches were employed, using data from the EURODEP collaboration. First, associations were studied between church-attendance, religious denomination and depression at the syndrome level for six EURODEP study centres (five countries, N = 8398). Secondly, ecological associations were computed by multi-level analysis between national estimates of religious climate, derived from the European Value Survey and depressive symptoms, for the pooled dataset of 13 EURODEP study centres (11 countries, N = 17,739). RESULTS: In the first study, depression rates were lower among regular church-attenders, most prominently among Roman Catholics. In the second study, fewer depressive symptoms were found among the female elderly in countries, generally Roman Catholic, with high rates of regular church-attendance. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were found among the male elderly in Protestant countries. CONCLUSIONS: Religious practice is associated with less depression in elderly Europeans, both on the individual and the national level. Religious practice, especially when it is embedded within a traditional value-orientation, may facilitate coping with adversity in later life.
Authors: John R M Copeland; Aartjan T F Beekman; Arjan W Braam; Michael E Dewey; Philippe Delespaul; Rebecca Fuhrer; Christopher Hooijer; Brian A Lawlor; Sirkka-Liisa Kivela; Anthony Lobo; Halgrimur Magnusson; Anthony H Mann; Ingeborg Meller; Martin J Prince; Friedel Reischies; Marc Roelands; Ingmar Skoog; Cesare Turrina; Marten W deVries; Kenneth C M Wilson Journal: World Psychiatry Date: 2004-02 Impact factor: 49.548
Authors: Arjan W Braam; Philippe Delespaul; Aartjan T F Beekman; Dorly J H Deeg; Karine Pérès; Michael Dewey; Sirkka-Liisa Kivelä; Brian A Lawlor; Hallgrímur Magnússon; Ingeborg Meller; Martin J Prince; Friedel M Reischies; Marc Roelands; Pedro Saz; Robert A Schoevers; Ingmar Skoog; Cesare Turrina; Ann Versporten; John R M Copeland Journal: Eur J Ageing Date: 2004-11-11
Authors: Carmen García-Peña; Fernando A Wagner; Sergio Sánchez-García; Claudia Espinel-Bermúdez; Teresa Juárez-Cedillo; Mario Pérez-Zepeda; Victoria Arango-Lopera; Francisco Franco-Marina; Ricardo Ramírez-Aldana; Joseph J Gallo Journal: J Affect Disord Date: 2013-06-02 Impact factor: 4.839